Is the DevNet Associate Worth It?
The DevNet program from Cisco is a training and education program that trains developers and IT professionals who want to make full use of Cisco's APIs. If it's a Cisco product or platform, with DevNet training, you can write applications or integrations that make the Cisco technology even more powerful for you or your team.
The DevNet Associate is the first certification in that program. If you're unsure about spending the time to earn it, read on to learn if it's worth it.
What is the DevNet Associate?
Cisco's DevNet Associate is an entry-level certification in the DevNet certification track. It certifies an IT professional's (usually developers or automation and integration engineers) skills and knowledge in writing simple applications that extend Cisco equipment or in developing integrations that automate the behavior of Cisco technology.
It's an entry-level software dev certification with a few networking twists.
The entire DevNet certification program covers an IT professional's familiarity with extending, optimizing, automating and customizing Cisco products, platforms, and APIs in software-defined networking, security, cloud, data center, Internet of Things, and open-source software development.
Someone with a Cisco DevNet Associate certification can implement network applications and automation workflows across Cisco platforms, including networking, security, collaboration, and computing infrastructure. This certification also validates problem-solving skills with Cisco APIs and modern development tools.
Cisco's DevNet Associate has no prerequisites and earning it only requires passing one exam, the 200-901 DEVASC.
What Does the DevNet Associate Exam Test?
The Cisco DevNet Associate certification has one exam, called 200-901 Developing Applications and Automating Workflows (DEVASC). It is a two-hour exam with six main exam objectives:
Software Development and Design: 15%
Understanding and Using APIs: 20%
Cisco Platforms and Development: 15%
Application Deployment and Security: 15%
Infrastructure and Automation: 20%
Network Fundamentals: 15%
Because it's the entry-level associate exam, much of the DEVASC is focused on general skills and broad knowledge of software development, automation, and APIs. For a software developer just getting started with network automation, that means it would be a good idea to focus on the basics – Cisco-specific development and APIs are only a portion of the DevNet associate exam.
How Much Does the DevNet Associate Exam Cost?
Cisco's DevNet Associate exam, 200-901 DEVASC, costs $300 to attempt. Since there are no prerequisites, and Cisco doesn't require work experience or course attendance, earning the DevNet Associate certification should cost only $300.
Cisco recommends at least a year of hands-on experience with developing and maintaining applications built specifically for Cisco platforms before attempting the certification. If you don't have that experience, the DevNet Associate exam is particularly challenging.
However, there are courses designed to prepare you for the 200-901 DEVASC, which can make up for that by providing hands-on labs in the course itself. If you decide to take training like that, be sure to add the cost when you're working out how much it'll cost to earn the DevNet Associate.
What Experience Do You Need for the DevNet Associate?
Officially, you don't need any experience to attempt the DevNet Associate. Because it's the entry-level certification on Cisco's DevNet track, Cisco designed it to be accessible to people with limited time and experience in an automation or integration role.
Cisco's only recommendation is about a year of experience before attempting the exam. You should have experience with Cisco platforms and working with applications before you attempt the DevNet Associate exam. You should also understand the idea behind APIs and have some experience reading Cisco APIs.
Cisco's later DevNet certifications focus more on specializations. At the associate level, Cisco only expects you to be comfortable writing applications and integrations that automate basic behaviors. Specifically, you should be familiar with writing code and with the applied practices of software development.
You should understand or be familiar with:
Python data structures
Using common Git operations
The advantages of version control
Software development methods like Agile, lean, or waterfall.
Deploying applications on a network
Maintaining application security
A lot of the content of the DevNet Associate exam generally deals with APIs, so you should be prepared for tasks like constructing a REST API request. You'll have to know enough about authentication methods, common constraints, and API styles to troubleshoot requests. It'd be a bad idea to try the exam without knowing Cisco's SDK documentation or the APIs that apply to Cisco's various network management platforms, compute management platforms, and all the rest.
You should also have experience with deploying applications on the network and maintaining application security. The DevNet Associate exam will also rely on extensive experience with automating a network's operations, so you'll need experience with network infrastructure, infrastructure as code and network topologies.
Who Should Take the DevNet Associate?
Software developers, network automation engineers, and system integration programmers who work with Cisco equipment or tech should consider earning the DevNet Associate.
If you work in one of those positions – or you're thinking about moving into a role like that – the DevNet Associate exam could be the way to get your foot in the door with automating Cisco equipment.
Is the DevNet Associate Worth it for a Software Developer?
Not every software developer will find the DevNet Associate certification worthwhile. However, those working with network operations or supporting network administrators will likely benefit from it.
Software developers might pursue the DevNet Associate to ensure their applications run efficiently on Cisco networks, but more often, it’s those tasked with improving network operations who find it most valuable.
If your company doesn’t use Cisco equipment, that aspect of the certification may be less relevant. However, since only about 15% of the exam focuses specifically on Cisco platforms, the broader knowledge—APIs, network design, automation protocols, and API calls—remains universally applicable.
For developers needing network automation skills, DevNet Associate is a strong choice, especially for those working with Cisco technology.
Is the DevNet Associate Worth it for a Network Automation Engineer?
Yes, the DevNet Associate is worth it for network automation engineers. In fact, it might be worth earning the DevNet Associate even if you don't work on Cisco equipment. The knowledge of how to understand and use APIs, deploy a network application that's safe and secure, and automate network traffic and hardware is universally useful for a network automation engineer.
If you work with Cisco equipment, the DevNet Associate is a necessary first step to the more advanced certifications that you'll want to earn eventually. After earning the DevNet Associate, you can specialize your network automation skills in application development, operations, security, or infrastructure.
Is the DevNet Associate Worth it for a System Integration Programmer?
The DevNet Associate is specifically aimed at writing programs and integrations for Cisco platforms. The certification is definitely worth it for system integration programmers. It focuses on the skills and abilities needed for good systems integration and covers the concepts behind maintaining good integration practices.
The reason for a system integration programmer to earn the DevNet Associate is that it validates your comfort with Ansible and Terraform–for example–and proves you're familiar with automating network behaviors with them. If you work as a system integration programmer, you should plan on earning the DevNet Associate simply because there aren't many other credentials that are so perfectly aligned with your career path.
Using the DevNet Associate to Learn Skills
Cisco's DevNet Associate is an entry-level certification that covers many topics. It is perfect for learning skills in writing programs that automate network operations. No matter how comfortable and familiar you are with network automation, the DevNet Associate is a great place to start because it covers all the bases.
Maybe you got tasked with new responsibilities, and you're not sure where to start, or perhaps you realized that systems integration is the next job you want to move into. Learning skills by preparing for the DevNet Associate means you'll get a strong foundation in everything from good software development and design principles to recognizing network hardware functionality and relationships.
The DevNet Associate isn't just for beginners—experienced software developers could go their entire career and never need to deploy their application across a network, just like experienced network administrators might not know how to write in Python. Courses that prepare you for the DevNet Associate will teach you skills that bridge the software parts of network automation with the hardware.
Using the DevNet Associate to Validate Skills
The skills that go with the DevNet Associate are hard to come by. Plenty of software developers know they'll never need to know anything about network traffic, and lots of network administrators think that apps and software just come pre-loaded on their equipment. However, earning Cisco's DevNet Associate can prove to your employer and managers that you have skills that straddle both sides.
Taking courses to prepare and taking the DevNet Associate exam validates skills in software development, API usage, application deployment, network infrastructure, and network automation. If you're eyeing a promotion to a job that combines the hardware and software skill sets a network automation engineer needs to have, the DevNet Associate can help you prove your knowledge and abilities.
So, is the DevNet Associate Worth It?
The DevNet Associate is definitely worth it for anyone who deals with network automation in one form or another. Even if you write programs that only touch network operations in a small way, studying to pass the DevNet Associate could reveal better methods you'd never considered.
On the other hand, if your primary job responsibilities include writing integrations for Cisco hardware or technologies, the DevNet Associate is the first step of many to documenting your comfort with harnessing their APIs and optimizing their behavior to your unique needs. If you don't work with Cisco equipment or network automation, it's probably not worth it. Otherwise, it's a certification that's well worth the time and energy it costs for the specific people it applies to.
Ready to take the next step? Our updated DEVNET Associate (200-901 DEVASC) Online Training course will help you gain the skills to pass the exam.
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